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The Linguistics of the Life Sciences: From Mechanical Analogies to Teleological Analogies—Preface to the Recommended Chinese Translation of The Book of Life

History of Science & Scholarship2025.08.03
The Linguistics of the Life Sciences: From Mechanical Analogies to Teleological Analogies—Preface to the Recommended Chinese Translation of The Book of Life
Philip Ball: *The Book of Life*, translated by Wang Qiaoqi, CITIC Publishing Group, 2025 I was honored to write the recommendation preface for this book. I actually did not read the main text very closely; I mainly wrote from the general perspective of philosophy of science. What I’m posting here is my original draft; the published version may have been revised to some extent. Science and Analogy The genome is the “blueprint” of life, the “instruction manual” of life, and life science deciphers the “code” of life through genetic technology… These are all familiar formulas to us. But Philip Ball’s *The Book of Life* is precisely a critique of these…
philosophy book reading science philosophy of science
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2025年8月3日
Viruses: Nature’s Temper?

Culture & Public Commentary2020.02.04
Viruses: Nature’s Temper?
This is the second essay in my epidemic reflections; with tensions high these days, please be cautious in sharing it with friends. During the epidemic, every day I have seen many things that make one feel awful. What grieved me most, in fact, was the study on Shuanghuanglian released by the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Of course, as Teacher Tiansong says, one must “beware of scientists,” because scientists, like people in any trade, can be just as good or just as bad; but they wield powers greater than those of many other trades, while people in other trades are less…
technology culture science commentary
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2020年2月4日
How Can Ethics in the Technological Age Welcome the Future? [Fourth Commentary]

Culture & Public Commentary2018.12.09
How Can Ethics in the Technological Age Welcome the Future? [Fourth Commentary]
This one was also published on Jiemian (for reprints, please contact Jiemian), but it was not a commissioned piece. I wrote it casually and sent it to them. The feedback was that the quality was worse than the previous two, which may have had something to do with the rather rambling way I wrote this one, or perhaps with the fact that the issues this article faced were more tangled and its viewpoint correspondingly more moderate. Still, they did publish it, but with very extensive changes: the title was altered (Can Technological Progress Really Tailor Human Value Preferences?), and the He Jiankui theme was also removed (don’t ask why; just…
technology commentary tradition value
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2018年12月9日
Is Eugenics Justifiable? — A Delayed Judgment [Third Review]

Culture & Public Commentary2018.12.07
Is Eugenics Justifiable? — A Delayed Judgment [Third Review]
At the turn from the 19th to the 20th century, as Darwin’s theory of evolution gained popularity, “eugenics” arose one after another in several countries in Europe and America. Various countries adopted all kinds of compulsory or incentivizing birth-control policies, encouraging some people (the healthy, the highly intelligent) to have more children, while suppressing the reproduction of others (the sick or the “low-end population”). It was not until eugenics became linked with genocide in Nazi hands that it finally fell into disrepute. So after World War II, in addition to trying the Nazis for their crimes, the international community also abolished eugenic policies one after another. With the rise of…
philosophy technology commentary modernity
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2018年12月7日
The Disappearance of “Grace” — A Second Discussion of the He Jiankui Affair

Culture & Public Commentary2018.12.05
The Disappearance of “Grace” — A Second Discussion of the He Jiankui Affair
The commission came from Jiemian (for reprints, please contact Jiemian); when it was published, the title was changed to “Gene Technology and the Disappearance of Human Gratitude and Awe,” and the content was hardly altered. It is said that when my mother was pregnant with me, she heard some folk remedy from somewhere, saying that if she wanted my skin to be a bit fairer, she should eat watermelon every day. The result was that this remedy clearly had no effect; after eating dozens of watermelons, she still gave birth to me dark and sturdy… Wanting one’s child to be smart, beautiful, and healthy is every parent’s wish. In order…
technology commentary Heidegger modernity
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2018年12月5日
“Passing the Buck” Is the Greatest Danger Exposed by the He Jiankui Incident

Culture & Public Commentary2018.12.04
“Passing the Buck” Is the Greatest Danger Exposed by the He Jiankui Incident
The Chinese Science News commissioned this piece, which was published on December 4, 2018, on page 1, “Top News”. At the time of publication, the title was changed to “Who Should Bear Responsibility for the He Jiankui Incident,” and the content was also somewhat polished. I am posting the original draft here. Recently, the birth of two gene-edited babies has shocked the world and brought the issue of science-and-technology ethics into the public eye. In recent years, China’s scientific and technological development has been rapid, and in many fields it has already caught up with the international standard, even reaching world-class levels. But as the He Jiankui incident has exposed,…
technology China commentary genes
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2018年12月4日
Repost: Are Artificial Species About to Appear?

Life & Notes2007.06.13
Repost: Are Artificial Species About to Appear?
Artificial species are about to make their debut http://news.sina.com.cn/w/2007-06-09/074011988076s.shtml http://www.sina.com.cn 2007年06月09日07:40 Sichuan Online – Huaxi Metropolis Daily According to a report on the 8th by American media, several American biologists are using the method of synthetic biology to synthesize the smallest and simplest genome from DNA fragments carrying specific genetic codes, and then implant that genome into bacteria from which the genetic code has already been removed, thereby forming a new microorganism. At present, this new artificial species is about to come into being. According to reports, the scientist leading this research is named Venter, and he has long been devoted to artificially creating new microorganisms at an institute in…
everyday life science experiment genes
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2007年6月13日